Clockwork
by Witch of Lock
Summary: What does Aichi dream about in his seemingly eternal sleep? Let's hope his dreams are at least kind to him.


The day  
Is wrought with never  
Ceasing unnatural  
Kindness

Another day of a seemingly endless break from school. Another day surrounded only by his friends without a trouble in the world. Everyday was like the last. It was monotonous, but after all the group had been through, Aichi basked in the warmth of peace.  
He woke up at the same time, even without Emi waking him up. He could never quite remember his dream, but he always awoke with tears in his eyes. Every morning, he was greeted with smiling faces by his mother and sister. Every morning, his favorite breakfast.  
He couldn't recall the taste, even as it filled his mouth.  
Afterwards, Naoki and Shingo met him on the way to Card Capital. They spoke of many topics, but Aichi had memorized every phrase that escaped their lips.

Naoki would say "Aichi" ten times.  
Shingo would insult Naoki fifteen times.  
Aichi would attempt to calm them twice on the way there.  
The would talk about Naoki's deck, then school, then an upcoming tournament that never came.

There was never any traffic, so they walked on the road. The days were beautiful and sunny, there was never any need for an umbrella. But there were also never any new people around. Everyone on the streets were familiar faces. Even Team SIT waved to him, despite the fact that they had returned to Singapore. Despite the oddities, Aichi was only thankful for the time with his friends.  
The trio arrived at Card Capital. They walked in and were greeted by the manager like usual. Morikawa harrassed them about Kourin who would walk in five minutes later. Kai would watch the events and smile. The blue haired boy always found it strange that no one recognized the repetitive events, but dared not question them, lest chaos stir once more.  
Again, Kai would challenge him to a friendly fight. Kagero versus Royal Paladin. Aichi didn't remember switching from Gold Paladin back to Royals, but he shrugged it off. Always, Aichi would win by a lucky double critical trigger and Kai would heal one, but not the other. He was surrounded by smiles.  
They almost seemed fake.  
After several cardfights, the group would travel to the riverbank and watch the sunset. They would part ways and Aichi would go home, eat, and sleep.  
And he would dream a horrible dream he could not remember.

Thus the days repeated  
Over and over like  
Clockwork  
Kinda.

But one day, he was sick of the monotony. He changed topics when talking to Naoki and Shingo and prevented the two from fighting at all.

He even used Naoki's Narukami deck to fight Kai.

Strangely, he found he couldn't read the text on any of the cards. Kai won that round.

At the end of the day, he insisted they go to the park instead. The others complied.

But, as he thought before, altering events destroyed the peace. Black rings appeared everywhere and several Link Joker units flew out. He could hear Void in his mind taunting him. Blaming him for forcing the fate.  
Naoki was impaled.  
Miwa was sliced in two.  
Misaki was strangled.  
Kourin was abducted.  
Shingo was crushed.  
Kamui was torn to pieces.  
Kai pushed Aichi to take the full force of some sort of energy blast in his place.  
Aichi dropped to his knees and reached out.  
Everyone was gone. Dead because of his mistake. Dead because he couldn't appreciate what he had.

The lone high schooler squeezed his eyes shut and made a wish.

He wanted the peaceful days back.  
He wanted to stay with his friends.  
He wanted to be happy.  
He wanted to go back.

Let  
Our lives and  
Our days be  
Peaceful

It was almost as if time itself was looping around Aichi's wish for endless peace. Aichi awoke with tears in his eyes. He felt like a tragedy had occurred, but he couldn't remember it.

* * *

"Kourin."  
"Yes, Gaillard?"

The two stood in front of the barrier that enclosed Aichi. His face shifted from joy, to boredom, and then to pain.

"Aichi hasn't awoken for a long time. What do you think he dreams of?"  
"I don't know, but whatever it is, I just hope he's not lonely." Kourin watched Aichi's figure and glanced at the Blaster Blade he took back from Kai. "…because he's not alone. He never was…"


End file.
